Salt dispenser for hay balers



April 2, 1957 s. D. RUSSELL SALT DISPENSER FOR HAYBALERS Original FiledMarch 21, 1945 nvmvmn 57,4; 0 D. P055541. BY

Q 0 ATTORNEY.

United States Patent SALT DISPENSER FOR HAY BALERS Stanley D. Russell,Racine, Wis, assignor to J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis., a corporationof Wisconsin Original application March 21, 1945, Serial No. 583,955,

now Patent No. 2,503,416, dated April 11, 1950. Divided and thisapplication March 28, 1950, Serial No. 152,415

1 Claim. (Cl. 99-235) The present invention relates to mechanism forharvesting forage crops and an object thereof is to generally improvethe construction and operation of such mechanism, and specifically to asalt dispenser for hay balers.

This application is a division of application to Russell, Serial No.583,955, filed March 21, 1945 for Method of Harvesting Forage Crops,which issued as Patent No. 2,503,416 on April 11, 1950.

Further objects are to provide apparatus for adding a modifyingsubstance during a crop treating operation and which embraces mechanismfor feeding such substance at a rate in proportion to the rate oftreating of the crop.

Further objects are to provide expedients for the realization of theabove objects.

The storage of forage crops, such as hay and the like, with the additionof salt or other preservatives or flavoring material, has long beenknown, the procedure being to build a hay stack by first placing a thinlayer of hay on the ground, sprinkling it with the salt or othersubstance, placing a second layer of hay on the first layer, sprinklingthe second layer with salt, placing a third layer, sprinkling with salt,etct, until a stack of the desired size is built, the salt beingdistributed more or less evenly through the stack. However, the layershave appreciable thickness, and there is no particular uniformity inapplying the salt or substance and the whole process involves a largeamount of labor and is influenced by the variations and failures commonto manual processes. Furthermore, the completed stack is subject to thevagaries of the weather and involves the usual difiiculty in feeding thefinished crop. The means of the present invention results in theincorporation of a modifying substance with substantially perfectuniformity and substantially constant proportion and also in :a crop infinal form which is particularly convenient to store or feed or ship todistant points.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom a consideration of the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory exampleof the invention is shown. However, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all suchvariations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the inventionas herein expressed in the annexed claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of so much of a baler asnecessary to illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation of the same with parts broken away.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4- is an enlarged detail of a portion of Fig. 3.

As illustrating a typical example of a baler equipped with the feeder14, Fig. 1 shows a baler having a case of well-known form 15 in which isreciprocable a plunger 16 actuated by a pitrnan 17 from a crank 18,crank 1 being driven by a fiywheel or other suitable or well-known means19.. It is to be understood that the baler will be provided withconventional or suitable driving means, transporting wheels, feedingdevices, etc, essential to successful operation, and forming no part ofthe present invention and therefore not necessary to further describe orillustrate. The bal-er, however, is provided with a feed opening 23 inthe present instance located in one side of chamber 15 and through whichthe crop is introduced at such times as opening 20 is not covered byplunger 16. It is to be understood that a plunger 16 reciprocates so asto alternately cover and uncover opening 20 in the manner fully setforth in 'applicants Patent No. 2,362,861, a knife 20 being fixed onplunger 16 for slicing or dividing the separate feeds.

Feeder i4 is arranged to deposit, periodically a small amount of salt,lime or other crop treating material as hereinbefore stated in timedrelation to the reciprocations of plunger 16. As will be apparent, muchof the time the material will be so tightly compressed in front ofplunger 16 that granular material could not penetrate to any extent intothe compressed material. However, between these periods, the crop willbe comparatively loose. for example when plunger 16 has been retractedand has not yet returned on a compressing stroke, as indicated in Figs.1 and 2. Material introduced substantially in line with opening 20 atthis period, will have an appreciable time interval in which to movepartly or substantially entirely through the body of material so as topermeate it thoroughly. The treating material issubstantiallyimmediately trapped by the following compressing stroke ofplunger l6, the crop tightening about the material and preventingfurther movement thereof. This action is repeated for each feed orcompressing stroke of plunger 16. Therefore, if the salt or treatingmaterial should be unable to penetrate the crop in a perfectly uniformmanner, at least there will be one feed of salt for or within each feedof hay. In other words, the salt or treating material is fed in timedrelation to the feeding of the hay, and is trapped between, or at thejunctions of said feeding. For all practical purposes, this would behomogeneous distribution of the salt throughout the hay. Thisconstitutes an important phase of the invention.

For achieving this result, feeder 14 comprises a hopper portion 21 inthe present instance located on top of the bale case 15 substantially inline with a portion of opening Ztl. Hopper 21 is of a size to holdenough salt or other treating material for a reasonably long run of thebaler. Hopper 21 has a bottom wall 22 providing a series of openings 23,as more particularly indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 and which will remainfilled with salt from the supply carried in the hopper. A feeding ormeasuring plate 24 is shiftable beneath openings 23 and contains seriesof openings 25 which may register with openings in a plate as spacedfrom bottom wall 22 sufficiently to allow free movement of plate 24.Openings 25 are preferably downwardly flared to facilitate discharge ofthe treating material. Plate 26 is provided with openings 27 which mayregister in one position with above mentioned openings 25. Abovementioned openings 25 in another position register with above mentionedopenings 23. Thus, as will be understood, in one position of plate 2%,openings 25 will receive salt or treating material ft to. openings 23.Shifting of plate 24 will then transfer this measured amount of materialto openings 27 through which the material will be dropped into bale case15. In the present instance, plate 24 is reciprocable betweeplates 22and 26. As Will be apparent, it is necessary that the registration ofopening 25 with openings 27 must occur in timed relation to thereciprocations of plunger 16 so that the salt will be dropped into thebale case only at such times as the hay is in condition to receive it.It is contemplated that this may be accomplished in any suitable waywithin the scope of certain phases of the invention, in the illustratedembodiment, plate 24 being shifted from a cam 28 actuated from crankshaft 18.

Cam 28 in the present instance is adjustably fixed on a shank portion 29by a clamping screw 30 and actuates a follower generally designated as31 provided with a roller 32. The action of the cam reciprocatesfollower 31 in a guide 33 carried by bale case 15, a spring 34 bearingagainst a suitable abutment 35, pressing follower 31 and roller 32against cam 28. Follower 31 actuates a push rod 36 pivoted at 37 to anarm 38 of a bell crank fulcrumed on a pivot 39. Pivot 39 is carried inbrackets 40 and 41 supported on bale case and an arm 42 conmeets a pivot43 with a pivot 44 on plate 24 by means of a link 45. In this manner,rotation of cam 28 will cause reciprocation of plate 24 in timedrelation to the rotations of crank 18.

Different conditions may require different amounts of salt or othertreating material. This may be accomplished by exchanging plate 24 forone with openings the required size for the desired feed rate, pivot 44being readily removable for this purpose. Alternatively, push rod 36 isadjustably connected with follower 31 as by a set screw 46. Adjustingrod 36 in relation to follower 31 will change the range of movement ofplate 24, resulting in only a partial registration of openings withopenings 23 and 27. This will limit the amount of materialwhich may befed into the hay or other crop during the comparatively short intervalthat the openings are in registration.

Once the correct timing or relation between the reciprocations of plate24 and the reciprocations of plunger 14 is determined, it should beseldom necessary to change it. However, if such adjustment is necessary,it is a simple matter to loosen clamp screw and shift cam 28 in relationto shank 29 until the correct timing is obtained.

In the practice of the invention by the above described apparatus, it iscontemplated that other materials than salt, lime, etc., may be added tothe material being treated. For example, any of the small grains whichit is desired to blend with the baled or chopped, or otherwise treatedmaterial, may be placed in the hopper 21 or the hopper 54 and fed inmeasured quantities into the crop being harvested.

The manner in which the objects of my present invention are accomplishedwill be apparent from the foregoing specification. No elfort, however,has been made to go into exact detail of construction and assembly, asthe ultimate details will necessarily have to be determined by thecharacter of service for which the device is employed.

The operation is thought to be clear from the above description and whatis claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

In a forage harvester the combination of a baler having a balingchamber, a hay compressing plunger reciprocable in said chamber forcompressing hay in a succession of feeds for each bale, an opening insaid chamber through which loose hay is introduced into the space inwhich said plunger reciprocates prior to each compression stroke of theplunger cutting means on said plunger for severing the several feedsfrom each other, and a feeding device on the baler positioned above saidspace and communieating therewith through a separate openingsubstantially in a line with the first-named opening providing a supplyof a preservative substance, and said device including means timed inrelation to the reciprocations of said plunger and disposed to direct aquantity of said preserva: tive substance into thespace just prior toeach successive compression stroke of the plunger for substantiallyuniformly distributing the substance throughout the resulting bale.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSBoughan u Sept. 11, i

